Cannabis Blog

New York State senators and policymakers joined the leaders of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) Thursday night to deliver a rousing plea for funding to fight to implement the existing New York medical marijuana law, and support upcoming legislation to tax and regulate marijuana.

The VIP reception, held at ABC Home’s lofty event space in Manhattan, was followed by a program of speakers on New York’s marijuana policies. New York State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried spoke eloquently of the need to push forward with existing medical marijuana legislation, which he sponsored and fought tirelessly to pass. The bill became law in 2014, but it isn’t functioning yet, is very restrictive, and is likely to leave low-income and rural patients without access to medicine. Although medical marijuana is legal in New York, patients and families are still awaiting relief—even though, as Gottfried pointed out, “You’ll walk out of here and pass five or six stores in just a few blocks that sell candy and beef jerky up front, and hydrocodone and morphine in the back. They’re called drugstores.”

State Senator Liz Krueger, a sponsor of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, assured the crowd that, although the bill may not pass in 2016, “There is no turning back.” The MRTA bill addresses “the failed policy of marijuana prohibition and will work to undo some of its negative results by creating a responsible and well-regulated industry” in New York State. State Senator Daniel Squadron, sponsor of the Fairness and Equity Act, urged donors to give generously to support the passage of the racial-justice bill, which would end racially biased arrests and allow convicted offenders to vacate and seal their records.

Colorado will repeal sales taxes on marijuana Sept. 16, thanks to a quirk in its constitution.

The one-time-only holiday from the 10 percent state sales tax on recreational pot is likely to generate buzz in the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana.

The little-noticed provision is part of a larger bill that Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law Thursday that includes a ballot initiative in November and a permanent tax cut on recreational pot sales in 2017.

"This fiscal glitch that we have with the constitution ... that's part of the magic of living in Colorado," the Democratic governor said.

The impetus is the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a measure championed by conservatives. The constitutional provision requires voters to approve new taxes based on estimates of collections and state spending. If the actual amount exceeds the estimates, refunds are necessary.

Colorado isn't collecting more pot taxes than expected — actually, the amount is far less than projections — but total state spending exceeded initial estimates because of the improving economy.

"This is only a first-year problem," said Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, who authored House Bill 1367. "We'll never have this problem again."

When triggered, TABOR also requires the tax rate to be cut to zero. State lawmakers agreed to eliminate the sales tax for one day to meet the constitutional obligations and then restore it. The tax holiday is expected to cost the state about $100,000 in revenue. The bigger price tag — $3.6 million — is what the state anticipates losing in revenue for a one-day elimination of the 15 percent excise tax on marijuana sales from cultivators to retailers.

I used to think marijuana was just a plant that got me really high and was fun to smoke with my friends. I didn’t realize its medicinal benefits until I began studying the plant as medicine extensively four years ago.

Now, thanks to cannabis-and specifically CBD oil-I believe the plant produces miracles. The latest proof of CBD as a miraculous sorcerer’s stone that aids those previously without a “cure” comes out of Puerto Rico-and it’s a tear-jerker.

Thanks to a rare form of cancer resulting in “severe, non-verbal autism”, Kalel Santiago lived the first nine years of his life without uttering a single syllable. Then, recently, his parents discovered the newfound miracle plant: CBD oil, the non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that cures epilepsy and saves lives.

His parents administered the oil on Kalel, and the result was the boy’s first spoken words in his lifetime-and it only took two days of using the medicine to begin seeing the results.

They took home the tiny sample bottle of spray and began giving their son twice daily doses, as directed on the label, right into his mouth. And the results, they say, were startling: Kalel started talking — in just two days.

“He surprised us in school by saying the vowels, A-E-I-O-U. It was the first time ever,” Abiel says. “You can’t imagine the emotion we had, hearing Kalel’s voice for the first time. It was amazing. The teacher recorded him and sent it to my wife and me and we said well, the only different thing we have been doing is using the CBD.” Soon thereafter, he adds, Kalel started using consonants to connect his sounds. “He said, ‘amo mi mama,’ ‘I love my mom,'” Abiel says. “I don’t know how to thank [the CBD oil makers].” [Yahoo]